Couldn't agree more. I finally bit the bullet and bought an imported Z1 Compact about a month ago and am very happy with it. I don't have the words to express my disappointment that Sony's example is not being followed, nor that American operators aren't interested in picking up a great device like the Z1 Compact.

On the topic of the One mini 2 itself, it seems like a perfectly decent phone, but you guys really hit it on the head with the "two worlds" thing--on the one hand, the same money gets you a G2, which is still a great phone by any account; on the other, it has the specs of a Moto G, which is half as much. I love HTC's industrial design, but it is hard to argue that the One mini 2 is competitive.Reply

agreed.and i might also add LG L6, a phone that you can purchase right off the ebay for 120 (or 100 if it is on the ebay daily deal). that has almost the same spec as the original one mini (actual performance is better since the skin isn't as heavy). i recently get one and my god the battery is godly. i can go with 3 days (as in 3 day+ 3 night) on a charge when using it to check email, facebook and occasionally web browsing. on comparsion my N4, if used the similar manner, would be dead before the second day.

with that all said, there isn't a single reason to pay 400 dollars for a mini 2 over the aluminum body when you can get L6 for 100 dollars, or Note 3 neo for about 360 dollars. Reply

I don't understand why nobody except Sony seems to understand this concept. Both HTC and Samsung cripple the specs of their "mini" variants. Why... why would you do that? Don't you understand that some people just don't want monster screens, but still want top-tier performance? :/Reply

I can't help but be amazed every time how well the Nexus 5 does in these tests with so few compromises, especially at that price. Still the best Android phone on the market all things considered, in my opinion. Reply

The headphone voltage is very sad on the Nexus. I own both an HTC One and a Nexus 5 and the One is about two times louder than the Nexus when using headphones. The cameras on both phones are below average. I will not be buying another Nexus phone as the HTC spoiled me on what better parts can do for smartphones. Reply

Nexus 5 owner here. The speaker and battery life are the only real compromises.The camera is merely average. Performance in real-world usage blazes though compared to just about any other android phone, mostly due to stock Kitkat.Reply

No SD? No sale. I carry a lot of media around with me and mass storage is essential. The cloud is not always accessible. To me, that absence is a very serious compromise. And it saved them what? $5?Reply

I'd be interested to see the sales figures for the Z1 Compact in Europe where the phone is widely available to see if Sony's strategy of producing a flagship phone with a smaller screen has worked out for them. On paper the phone looks pretty much exactly what everyone has been wanting for a while in Android with a top end SoC, camera, micro SD, decent screen even weather sealing and without much compromise either as the price is reasonable as is the batterylife. It makes a complete mockery of the HTC Mini 2 as they both appear to be a similar price despite the Sony being a much more capable device.

Yet I've not seen anyone with a Z1 Compact despite plenty of other Android phones and I've hardly seen any second hand for sale (I want a cheap one for going out cycling) whereas there's quite a few S5's around even though it's only recently released. I realise none of that's statistically relevant hence I'd like to see the sales data.

I do think Sony were too slow releasing the Z1 Compact, I think if they'd released it around two years after the Galaxy S2 they'd have been in the perfect position to catch those who wanted a similar sized phone with top end specs. I knew quite a few people who had S2's and didn't want an S4 due to the increase in size however as there wasn't anything suitable in a smaller form factor with Android they went with the S4 and find the size is fine.

A few friends and family have 'mini' phones particularly the S3 Mini and S4 Mini but they didn't just want a smaller phone they also wanted a cheap phone so wouldn't have considered a Z1 Compact if available. Reply

From the article: "HTC then proceeded to launch the One mini, a phone that was the size that everyone had been asking for"From Johnmcl7: " On paper the phone looks pretty much exactly what everyone has been wanting for a while in Android".Really? Everyone wanted a phone like that? I didn't. I was fine with 4.3" in my SGS2 when the iPhone established the 3.x" form factor. I liked my 4.65" Galaxy Nexus when that was becoming the norm and I like the 5.2" LG G2 which is doesn't feel much larger than the GN. So count me out of that "everyone" group, please. Not everyone is looking for smaller flag ship phones, just like not everyone is looking for microSD card slots, replaceable batteries or phones made out of aluminum. Some are, others aren't. I'm someone who is fine with lugging around his Nexus 7 when I'm wearing a jacket. The 5.2" G2 fits perfectly fine in all my trousers and I have never thought "bly me, that size is really bothering me".Reply

i'm really happy for you and you're right, not "everyone" wants all those things you list. the problem is that for people who are happy with 5"+ phones there already are many options - the whole flagship-segment caters to them.

but for those who want all the power in a slightly smaller form factor there is exactly one viable offering - not much considered the dozens/hundreds of models on the market. and even this lonely smartphone will be "obsolete" in a matter of months, considering the specs of current and coming flagships.

in a market like this, i think it's clear and also warranted, that people are complaining. but even if we aren't "everybody", it's still important that we voice our opinions. sorry if you felt collateralized ;)Reply

I feel exactly the same. Z1 Compact is a great phone (with some flaws like other) and the right size for everyday life, you don't have to carry a bag or a jacket only for your phone. I own a Nexus 5, coming from a Xperia U (perfect size for me) and this summer will see if i go mad feeling it in my pockets all day. As for the sales (of Z1 compact) It's difficult to tell the real figures, here in Italy is available for 450/420 euros or less, but anything that is not Samsung or iPhone is a "niche" phone. I own a N5, my sister owns a Moto G, and we are considered some kind of "geeks" only for that :)Reply

i also like the m7 design better, but not because of the brushed finish - i love brushed metal! - but the corners look better imho. it doesn't look all that rounded, more simple and also the top speaker grille is more centered. also the speaker grilles were real metal on the m7 and if you look closely at the m8 you can see that theres a rather thick clear coat on the grilles, plus not all holes are drilled all the way through. "nitpicking", yes, but on a phone that lives for its design i think those are still valid points.

also the second (duo-) camera looks goofy and the black m7 is just absolutely gorgeous, compared to the black m8 with its appalling gold speaker grilles (sprint version).

also (sorry for saying "also" so much!), i don't get how they get their numbers like "90% metal", or "50% metal". shure, the surface of the m8 features a couple percent more metal than the m7, but not to the extent of 90% vs. 70%. and the mini 2 sure as hell isn't down to only 50%. i'm really wondering how they calculate this to get those numbers.Reply

You are being WAY too kind.These "mini" marketing devices deserve to be bashed and put to shame. People buy them thinking they're getting a mini flagship and end up hating android.This is a terrible device at that price point.Reply

i also reluctantly upgraded from 3,7" to 4,3" two years ago. for the next upgrade i _might_ go as far as up to 5", if the bezels are as slim as on the g2 or g3. but a 5" display in a package as the m8 is just too much, tyvm.Reply

Hey, this isn't an Apple phone article! Anand, you looked at a non-Apple device!? For reals?

Of course, you DO share a byline, so I'm thinking this is one of those things where you glanced over the article and added a paragraph, but let the other guy do most/all of the work. Perhaps it didn't seem like you were exactly "fair and balanced" if all you ever had your name attached to were Apple device and AMD Center articles?

As an owner of a Lumia 920 & 925 as well as an iPhone 5s, I'd say that the well light pictures are slightly worse than the iPhone 5s and the low light pictures are better than anything else they show. That would put these phones among the very best for camera, depending on your shooting needs.

The Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520/930/Icon should best all of these phones, but I don't have them to test. Between high resolution, solid optics, OIS, and Xenon flash, they have specs that are second to none. The Sony's should be competitive though, and they are also missing from these reviews.

I really wish Anandtech would make nice with Microsoft and start reviewing their phones again.Reply

Sorry if I misread this, but in the HTC One Cameras table in Camera Architecture the table shows the Rear Camera - Max Aperture for the HTC One mini 2 as f/2.0 whereas its referred to as f/2.2 in the article.Just so you can update.Reply

your anti-apple stance aside, they also mentioned that people who are ok with the moto x' size should be happy with the mini 2. i have to object a bit here since the mini 2 is significantly larger despite having a .2" smaller display:

I just cannot understand why the Z1 Compact isn't even mentioned in reviews?Okay, I understand that as a US site the penetration of Sony is considerably less than other markets, but as an enthusiast site, it surely merits some reference?Reply

this article, especially the conclusion, sums up my thoughts about the mini 2 nicely. for what you get it's just priced too high and for what it should be, it just makes too many compromises.

i would be extremely interested in a smaller flagship phone and think the design of the m7/m8/mini2 is second to none. but the m7 lacks expandable storage (i just ordered a 128gb sandisk...), the m8 is just too big for my taste and needs and the mini 2 has its own set of problems, as we can clearly see.

it's still a very nice phone, but for me it is too compromised (1gb of ram? really??) and much too expensive.

also, with those internals it has no right to be about the same size as the m7, plus htc would have done good if it would have implemented optional capacitive buttons on the black bar, like the 1+1. at least then we would have more available space on-screen.Reply